Zeren
New York City, NY
I’m a mixed ethnicity Palestinian-Arab, European, Afghan American…I naturally have light skin, eyes and hair as many Arabs, whites and Afghans do. But I grew up in China where I was a minority on more than one count, not just my skin color, but my ethnicity and my nationality kept me separate from my peers. Now that I’m back in America, my light skin and my passport blind strangers to my true identity and I am so lost. Alienated from everyone; not Arab enough, not Afghan enough, not white enough, not Chinese enough, not American enough. Let me self identify as the human being that I am, and let me try to have some peace and quiet from all the judgment I get because of my appearance and the way I grew up.
